Is Grants Pass "odd"? (Medford, Ashland: sale, loan, big house)

[mdvaden]

chrisgon2fars's post reminds me of people who moved to Portland, and didn't like driving around, merely because they didn't find the right short-cuts.

And the short-cuts exist.

Different example, but same basic thing.

I find Grants Pass to be inviting.

If it seems disfunctional, that can connote that the person feeling that way is disfunctional in certain situations outside their 9 dots of living.

In other words, if someone drives an auto tranny, and calls a stick shift tranny disfunctional, maybe its because they just can't function in both systems, but both systems work 100% precisely.

[TribalCat]

Thanks for taking the time to answer all my questions. I guess I really need to just visit GP for myself and see what it's like. What concerns me the most is the heat, I completely wilt in the high 80's. Air conditioning would probably take care of that though

[Larry Caldwell]

IMO, Grants Pass is one of the best small towns in Oregon. There is a prosperous business community, a vibrant arts community, great scenery and recreation, and the climate is great, except for the summers, which get a bit hot for my taste. Yes, air conditioning is a requirement of life, or a house on the river.

On the down side, real estate is very expensive. Between the federal government and the timber companies, there isn't much room in Josephine County for people to live.

[northbayeric]

That's a shame about the proliferation of meth labs there. Aren't drugstores and other merchants required to keep all their medications containing pseudoephedrine behind the counter?

Freedom, my wife and I had the pleasure of staying for two nights in Grants Pass over Labor Day weekend, and enjoyed it there a whole lot. There was one Chinese-American restaurant just down 6th Street from the Motel 6 that was just okey-dokey, but the town struck us as clean and safe, at least up toward I-5. And it's not that long of a romp down to Crescent City if the day gets hot--and it depends on what you're used to. Compared to Redding and Red Bluff, GP seems fairly mild. And ah, politics. Try telling someone you're a conservative here in Left Coast Gulch (Sonoma County, CA) and you'll find yourself face to face with a potentially violent non-violent activist. Especially in Communist-dominated Sebastopol. So it's just a matter of what your political tastes are. Spend some time here and it'll be pretty obvious that conservatives, pro-life Catholics and Evangelicals are not made to feel very welcome at all.

Originally Posted by chrisruns2far

I respectfully stand behind all of my answers as grounded in facts, in particular those regarding the climate and hot summers.

Grants Pass/Josephine County has the highest level of domestic violence of any county in Oregon and it also has by far the most meth/crack contaimenated homes (#1 for the last six years) of any county as listed and documented on the state website </TITLE> <META http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html><link rel="stylesheet" href="wrapper/agency_pinot_v3.css" type="text/css"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="../wrapper/oregonGov_v3.css" type="text/css"> <title>Drug Lab Information

On the surface, Grants Pass may seem like Mayberry, but behind its facade it is the most intolerant and conservative place I have ever lived in.

[northbayeric]

Originally Posted by mdvaden

Better closed libraries than closed minds.

But libraries are essential tools for opening minds. Having said that, I'm reminded of the wonderful words of G.K. Chesterton when he said, "Having an open mind is nothing. The object of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth, is being able to shut it on something solid."

I'm a big fan of libraries, but the American Library Association? Wellllll.....

[mdvaden]

Originally Posted by northbayeric

But libraries are essential tools for opening minds. Having said that, I'm reminded of the wonderful words of G.K. Chesterton when he said, "Having an open mind is nothing. The object of opening the mind, as of opening the mouth, is being able to shut it on something solid."

I'm a big fan of libraries, but the American Library Association? Wellllll.....

Libraries....

Let me rephrase that, "those libraries" are not essential to open minds.

If all the libraries in a 10 county region closed - county libraries - my family would still have access to any book they carry, and most resources they offered.

Those libraries are like "convenience stores for knowledge". But there are other libraries, and there are bookstores, and there is the internet.

And odds are, the county libraries will do fine in the long run.

Mentioning a single matter regarding an entire city, can be like pointing out that there no hub caps on a car, and not showing the rest of the whole machine.

My guess is that the town is loaded with the availability of books and resources, including the local college and schools.

Anything the library could offer, is available for purchase.

Geez... My son and I purchased - and read - almost 60 books in a single year, about 2 years ago. And none of them came from the library in Beaverton at all.

No obstacles. Just find, acquire, and read.

[chrisruns2far]

Grants Pass would be a great test-case or micro-example that reflects many of the state and national problems.

1-Religious intolerance....insert the word Theocracy here.
2-Anti-tax crusaders - Refuse to fund anything associated with education, but always happy to fund bigger and more prisons rather than being proactive on the front end. They won't even fund the need for rural district school buses just so kids can get to school, much less educational needs and programs so lacking there.
3-Poor land use planninig, Grants Pass/Josephine County lead the state in land use claims and land use violations. It's planning department was in a sambles when I lived there. I filed two blatant land-use violation claims myself when I lived there. The city is laid out like someone took a deck of cards and threw them across the valley floor and hoped for the best. There was/has been very little thought process in regards to growth and development there. The eniter Rogue Valley is in denial about its impending water supply and water quality issues.
4-Destruction of great old buildings. With the exception of one or two blocks, all the rest of the great old buildinigs in Grants Pass have met the wrecking ball.
5-Little or no middle class, too few opportunities for youth or young people.
6-City/county run by 'good ol boys' and nepitism. Builders and developers have a rubber-stamp city council and county commissioners. Middle and lower income residents have no say in the decisions that affect their lives.
7-Little or no affordable housing...to buy or rent. I was very fortunate to have been able to own my home there.
8-Fundlemental change in demographics. Fewer and fewer young people can afford to stay/live in Grants Pass. UNfortunately, this his taking place in many small towns, but is much more prononced in Grants Pass. I was in my mid-late 30s when I lived there and I felt like one of the youngest people in town. Grants Pass is becoming the Sun City of Oregon.....55 and older only.
9-Grants Pass is not a real and diverse community, but rather a place for one to cash in their over-inflated equity from someplace else to retire and not have to bother with civic engagement or supporting fundamental services that are needed for those who grew-up there and that are trying to remain in the place they call home.

[freedom]

Chrisruns2far says:

1-Religious intolerance....insert the word Theocracy here.

Do you have an example of this intolerance? Every religious denomination is represented here, there are atheists and evolutionist. There are those that say their belief is the way, but that is a global position. You can go anywhere and experience that.

2-Anti-tax crusaders - Refuse to fund anything associated with education, but always happy to fund bigger and more prisons rather than being proactive on the front end. They won't even fund the need for rural district school buses just so kids can get to school, much less educational needs and programs so lacking there.

Is that why the New Highschool was built, adding a bond of 43 million dollars to our tax bills? As to the buses you are flat wrong, there are rural buses for every county school Laidlaw is the contractor for this service, my Father in law is a bus driver....doh! No money for schools? Oregon spends $7,700 per student, the National avg. is $5,500. My property tax is $4200 per yr. $315 dollars of that goes to running the county. The rest goes to education. It costs us less than $700 per yr. to homeschool our 5 children ($140.00 ea.), and they are all far advanced compared to their Pub school peers. If anything the Public school system is over funded.

3-Poor land use planninig, Grants Pass/Josephine County lead the state in land use claims and land use violations. It's planning department was in a sambles when I lived there. I filed two blatant land-use violation claims myself when I lived there. The city is laid out like someone took a deck of cards and threw them across the valley floor and hoped for the best. There was/has been very little thought process in regards to growth and development there. The eniter Rogue Valley is in denial about its impending water supply and water quality issues.

Now this I agree with, the Planning depts. are top loaded with no growthers, which is why property is so expensive here. Supply and demand. Violations are in every county and city in every state. It comes down to interpretation of code. The city is surrounded by mountains, it has a limited grid due to terrain. The most screwed up roads are under state control.
Our water issues are due to enviros tearing out a gravity fed damn, in return for a electric pump system. So people are opting out of the irrigation district, and drilling more wells, thus not having the water table replenished by the gravity flow system that the river provided. Our water quality is some of the best in the nation.

4-Destruction of great old buildings. With the exception of one or two blocks, all the rest of the great old buildinigs in Grants Pass have met the wrecking ball.

Name one. I've been here for 15 yrs. and vacationed every yr. for 20 yrs before that, and have never seen one old building torn down, in fact they continually remodel and restore them. We have a historical commitee that makes sure of that. Some actually need to be razed, but they won't allow.

5-Little or no middle class, too few opportunities for youth or young people.

Wrong, this area is made up of middle class. How do you think they afford all these expensive homes. Youth activities are abundant, 4H, sports, outdoor hiking, biking, rafting, fishing, wakeboarding, dirtbiking, horsebackriding, hometown events, theater, movies, and even bowling. The youth for the most part are very active and creative. We have the largest sports club in southern Oregon (Club Northwest). They have raquetball, swimming, gymnastics, full weight and aerobics, tennis, volleyball, Kids center the list goes on and on. I sure would not want to live in the town that you have painted such a dreary picture of.

6-City/county run by 'good ol boys' and nepitism. Builders and developers have a rubber-stamp city council and county commissioners. Middle and lower income residents have no say in the decisions that affect their lives.

What yrs. did you live here? I wish we had a rubber stamp. Everything has to go to commission, it is a slow, expensive and cumbersome event. I have been working on two subdivisions of 5 lots or less for over a 1 1/2 and still have 6-9 months before we can start the ground breaking. All due to the consideration of the residents that have no say...of which a month is added to the process in order to have the notifications go out to the neighbors with no say, in order that, surprise, they have a say. And they Say, and say, and say, until they are satisfied. County and City operate this way..so people do have a say.

7-Little or no affordable housing...to buy or rent. I was very fortunate to have been able to own my home there.

I rent two properties at a $500 loss per month. Rent is cheap here compared to land prices, rentals are abundant. Most rental issues have to do with the tenants, not the owners. Affordable housing is rather difficult in an area where Gov't charges $20,000 for permits and fees before one stick is put up. Land zoning is so strict there are very few buidable lots, again supply and demand.

8-Fundlemental change in demographics. Fewer and fewer young people can afford to stay/live in Grants Pass. UNfortunately, this his taking place in many small towns, but is much more prononced in Grants Pass. I was in my mid-late 30s when I lived there and I felt like one of the youngest people in town. Grants Pass is becoming the Sun City of Oregon.....55 and older only.

You need to visit again in order to get an accurate picture of Grants Pass, rather than just making outdated assumptions.

9-Grants Pass is not a real and diverse community, but rather a place for one to cash in their over-inflated equity from someplace else to retire and not have to bother with civic engagement or supporting fundamental services that are needed for those who grew-up there and that are trying to remain in the place they call home.

Do you know what the demographics are in Grants Pass? Do you have any idea how many families live here. First indication, school population. They are filled, and have built new schools every few yrs since I have lived here. I think you are confusing Grants Pass with Ashland. Where schools are closing due to low demand. NO children.

[chrisruns2far]

Originally Posted by TribalCat

Thanks for taking the time to answer all my questions. I guess I really need to just visit GP for myself and see what it's like. What concerns me the most is the heat, I completely wilt in the high 80's. Air conditioning would probably take care of that though

Hi TribalCat, I cannot emphasize enough how HOT the summers are in Grants Pass....if the heat gets to you at 80, you will literally wilt all summer long. Visit there sometime between June and September to get a taste of it before to help with you decision makinig process and don't buy what the city web-site states, it is not close to being accurate. If you add 6-7 degress to the summer high figures you'll have a more accurate and reality-based number.

[cvanripe10]

I dont understand how people can say "Real estate is very expensive". To what are you making this comparison? On a national level? Or from a days pay??? You have to use specifics when saying "real estate here is expensive".

Because it's not expensive. You can buy a big house in Grant's Pass for $400,000. That is affordable!!!! I am outside NYC, where real estate is Expensive. A tiny tiny house here costs $650,000. Outside San Francisco, real estate is expensive. In San Diego, real estate is expensive. In Boston, real estate is expensive. In Grant's Pass, it is affordable.